These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cloud nine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. 2022 Jadeveon Clowney and Garrett have to be on cloud nine this week. 2022 Nabela Noor was on cloud nine as her family and friends helped to celebrate her baby girl on the way. He was on cloud nine for days after she agreed to marry. 2022 Bride-to-be Simone Biles is seemingly still on cloud nine after getting engaged to NFL player Jonathan Owens on Feb 15.Įlizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 4 Apr. (idiomatic) Often in the phrase on cloud nine: a state of bliss, elation or happiness. 2022 While Hughie's busy floating on cloud nine, not everyone's having such a good time in this premiere.Īlex Raiman, EW.com, 3 June 2022 There, the couple departed in a wedding white Bentley getaway car, clearly on cloud nine.Īlexandra Macon, Vogue, 6 Apr. 2022 The Summer House star, 36, is on cloud nine about her weekend engagement to fellow co-star Carl Radke - and her nearly 4-carat diamond ring.Īnna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 29 Aug. So am I I feel like Im on cloud nine Shes been on cloud nine ever since she heard the news. 2022 The next morning, Aven and Rachel snuggle in bed and coo at each other about being on cloud nine. I was on cloud nine when her mother came out of the house with a broom. The earliest example with the ‘obscure’ meaning dates back to 1651, but look at this example from 1956: ‘Oh, she’s off on Cloud Seven – doesn’t even know we exist.’ This one clearly uses the Flavells’ dream-like meaning (as in another related phrase, ‘he’s got his head in the clouds’, meaning daydreaming).īut then look at this example from a 1960 dictionary of American slang: ‘ Cloud seven, on, completely happy, perfectly satisfied in a euphoric state.’ This brings us back to the meaning we set out to research.Recent Examples on the Web Despite the hardships involving their country's government, the group is on cloud nine going into Wednesday's final elimination show before the season 17 finale. The OED merges its entry for ‘on cloud seven or nine’ with that for ‘in the clouds’, meaning ‘obscure, mystical fanciful, unreal … (generally combining the notions of obscurity and elevation)’. This caught my eye because it ties in with some of the early examples given in the Oxford English Dictionary (if you have a UK library card, you may be able to log in to the OED online should you want to see more). The Flavells also acknowledge the US Weather Bureau theory and that the height of cumulonimbus is ‘an apt metaphor for being on top of the world, with hints of being in a dream-like, floating state’. There was also an American radio programme in the 1950s called Johnny Dollar, in which a character was frequently knocked unconscious and went to cloud nine, where he recovered (the Flavells credit this with fixing the number nine in the phrase, as does Albert Jack in Red Herrings and White Elephants). They suggest that it was popularised by jazz singers looking for a way of expressing a feeling of being ‘high’ (whether emotionally, as in the ‘happy’ meaning, or one caused by drink or drugs). They say that versions of the phrase first appeared in the 1930s (‘on cloud eight’) and referred to drunkenness. Linda and Roger Flavell in their Dictionary of Idioms and their Origins say there’s ‘a good deal of uncertainty’ about the origin. She says it was the US Weather Bureau’s classification in the 20th century, and that each category of clouds was further subdivided into nine types of clouds – of which the ninth was the highest. Judy Parkinson in Spilling the Beans on the Cat’s Pyjamas gives more detail. And apparently an older version of the saying was ‘on cloud seven’. Very happy, as in: ‘I passed my exam – yippee! I’m on cloud nine!’ Where did it come from?Īpparently the phrase comes from an old system of classifying clouds.įrom the Horse’s Mouth, Oxford’s dictionary of idioms, says it was a 10-part classification so nine was very high.
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